href="#ulink_2e14038f-f583-5bba-966e-4907a434c8f3">fig. 1.2) shared common design characteristics. Each began with a dump (nduwa), a swell within a river that would provide a consistent supply of water. From here, an intake (kiwamaenyi) constructed from banana trunk diverted the water into a main canal, which turned away from the river and toward its destination. From this point, the waters flowed downhill at a gradual slope. Once they reached their destination, they were again diverted, this time into secondary canals leading directly into the vihamba. Floodgates made of banana trunks and leaves prevented water from flowing into the secondary canals until the appropriate time. Water from canals could be gathered into a wooden container, gourd, or clay pot for domestic purposes, but most often it was used for flood irrigation of crops. Beyond these general design characteristics, canals had a number of variations. Some canals that drew from small rivers featured multiple intakes to maximize the water supply. Many had culverts or aqueducts to lead water over other streams or under heavily traveled paths. Some had reservoirs that stored the overnight flow and increased the amount of water available during daylight hours. The biggest variables were length and number of branch canals. Mifongo could be as short as a quarter of a kilometer or as long as several kilometers, with only a handful of branch canals or dozens.
TABLE 1.1. Mean monthly rainfall in millimeters for selected locations (minimum 10 years of recorded data)
Data from Paul Maro, Population Growth and Agricultural Change in Kilimanjaro, 1920-1970, research paper no. 40 (Dar es Salaam: University of Dar es Salaam Bureau of Resource Assessment and Land Use Planning, December 1975).
FIGURE 1.2. An mfongo (Matthew V. Bender)
The development of new mifongo was a highly ritualized process limited to men in the community. Custom expressly prohibited women and children from tasks related to constructing or maintaining them.42 The process of creating a new canal began with a group of men’s determination that a new one was needed. They designated a leader, or founder, who took the lead in organizing labor and designing a plan for the canal. All men who planned to use the water aided in its construction and ongoing maintenance. Once the labor had been assembled, the founder began the process of surveying of the route.43 For areas with clearly defined slopes, he determined the path by eyesight alone. Where the slope was less clear, he could survey the land by placing a banana leaf on the ground, pouring water from a calabash, and seeing what way that water flowed. Alternately, he could study the walking paths of fire ants to determine the slope.44 After determining the path and slope, the founder commanded the men to excavate the primary canal to the desired depth and width. Once they completed that, they constructed the canal intake by excavating an appropriately sized opening from the source river and building the weir using banana trunks. Lastly, each man excavated his own branch canal from the main one. Once the project was complete, the founder became the first meni mfongo (canal headman), who held responsibility for its continuing management. Although most mifongo were designed by one of the users, some were constructed on others’ behalf by professionals who served as experts in irrigation management. Those who designed successful mifongo gained a reputation, and this translated into a powerful social status. In Kilema, the names of the most esteemed canal founders in history—Anjelini, Maleto, Matanda, Mchau, Mtenga, Mlikamburu, Reu—are remembered to the present day.45
Considering the richness of the landscape and the relative abundance of water, one may ask why people went to the trouble of constructing such an immense network of canals. One reason is that mifongo allowed for more flexibility in cultivation. Relying on rainfall alone, farmers were limited to two growing seasons—during and following the kisiye and fuli—in all areas of the agroforest belt except those of highest altitudes. With irrigation, they created a year-round agricultural calendar and maximized their land and labor resources; eleusine cultivation is a great example of this flexibility. A second factor was the challenging placement of natural watercourses relative to areas of settlement. Many of the principal rivers lay in deep ravines as they passed by the vihamba. Women and children, responsible for procuring domestic water, had to descend a steep slope, fill a clay pot with water, and then ascend with the pot atop their head. These inclines were difficult to climb and were often on borderlands. Harry Johnston recalled hearing stories about women who were kidnapped while gathering water from rivers and then forced to become junior wives of their captors.46 Animals such as leopards and lions also frequented these areas. By providing a reliable supply of water directly into areas of settlement, the mifongo not only reduced the risks associated with procuring water but also eased the labor burden. Lastly, mifongo provided a safeguard against drought. Though men irrigated vihamba regularly, they did so with increasing frequency in times of drought to compensate for insufficient rainfall.
Once water had been procured, it was used for a wide range of purposes. Within the domestic sphere, women used water most often to prepare food. Boiling was the most common method, with bananas and yams prepared into stews. People also drank water, but much of this occurred away from the kihamba and did not figure into the household allocation. Other domestic uses included washing and cleaning. According to Abbott, the peoples of Kilimanjaro were “comparatively clean, actually washing themselves occasionally. The wives are compelled to perform their ablutions daily and soap is in great demand.”47 Raum observed that mothers usually washed babies daily.48 While most washing took place in rivers, some also took place at home using water from pots. It is difficult to estimate the quantity of domestic water that a family consumed daily in the late nineteenth century, as it differed depending on location, proximity to sources, and time of year. Using interview data from Kilema, I estimate that an average family consumed two to three pots (roughly 40–80 liters) per day when water was readily available.49 Based on the patterns of water use inherent in the canals, it is safe to assume that rates of consumption were similar in other areas of the south and were lower in Rombo.
Procurement of domestic water was considered the work of women and children (fig. 1.3), and the process of collecting it could be arduous and time-consuming. In Rombo, the longer distances to water sources made the rigors especially trying. For both safety and companionship, women often traveled in groups. While doing so, they conversed and sometimes sang songs to help pass the time. One woman remembered a song that she sang frequently with friends:
We have been back from taking water. (x2)
Here we are our husbands we are pleased to arrive safely.
Here is the water our husbands, now we have water for cooking, and bathing.
Let me enter to my home my husband.
I come very tired my husband. (x2)
Don’t punish me please if I am late because I bring water to our family and our animals.
I am tired, I am tired.50
Water was also important in constructing buildings and enclosures. The basic form of house architecture was a conic structure constructed of thatched banana stems, bound together by horizontal stays of wattle and reaching as high and wide as 7–8 meters.51 People used water from nearby canals and streams to produce mud blocks and adhesive for these as well as other types of enclosures. Water was also necessary to bless newly constructed homes. As Dundas notes, on completion of a hut, the father of the one who built it would boil grass and banana stems—symbols of nourishment to people and animals—and all those present would wash their hands in the warm water, saying “May this house give warmth.”52 Thus water served a
